Monday, 28 March 2016

Though literally called a death-snake, the necrophidius is not an undead creature. It's actually a construct, made up of snake and human bones (most notably the skull), created as a guardian. The serpentine form is possible the second most popular shape for constructs (the first being humanoid). Like other snakey constructs, the necrophidius' main tasks are guardianship and assassination. Despite the lack of visible venom sacks, this creature's bite injects paralytic poison. Should it be spotted before it gets within biting distance, the necrophidius is able to perform an undulating dance which hypnotizes its target.

So this one was a tricky one to draw. If I'd been smart, I'd have gone for the much more simplified and bendy vertebrae that Joe used in his devourer image. Silly me, I decided to go with less flexible, much more numerous vertebrae (with disks!). That's my excuse for this late image, at any rate.

Sunday, 13 March 2016

The yellow musk creeper is a parasitic plant that feeds on brain matter. The large yellow flowers of the creeper produce a spray of pollen when they sense the vibrations of nearby creatures. This pollen has mind-controlling properties which compel creatures to come within the grasp of the creeper's vines, which latch onto the victim and tunnel into the brain.

Those who have their brain destroyed by a creeper become a part of the plant's reproductive cycle. While seeds gestate within them, the host is compelled to stay close to the parental creeper to protect it against harm. When the host eventually dies through trauma or natural decay, a new creeper grows from the body at an accelerated rate.

The creeper is extremely resilient, able to heal damage deal to it quickly. Fortunately, it's as weak to fire and corrosive materials as one would expect from a plant. The plant is capable of movement, but is extremely slow.

One of my favourite creatures from D&D, though it feels a bit more of a natural hazard than a true enemy. It has an Intelligence score of 2 though, which puts it on par with dogs and other smarter animals so I suppose that distinguishes it from being a plant that just sits there.

Parasitic plants obviously exist in the real world, but they're parasitic because they latch onto the roots, stems and what-have-you of nearby plants to steal their nutrients. The yellow musk creeper is possibly inspired by the members of the infamous Cordyceps genus, a parasitic fungus. Some of these fungi essentially turn insects into zombies, forcing them to climb to high places and starve to death to ensure better distribution of their spores.

Sunday, 6 March 2016

Yurians are a species of man-sized intelligent crustaceans that move about precariously atop a pair of spindly insectile legs. Found mostly in coastal caves, they are a simple folk, primitive hunter-gatherers who subsist on fish-flesh.

Although the craftsmanship (craftscrabship?) of the common Yurian is meagre, they are known to hoard the seabound detritus they find - driftwood, scraps of gemstone and metal - and fashion small trinkets from them that, despite their simplicity and fragility, are quite beautiful. Yurian caves can be strikingly pretty dwellings.

Hey! So it's been a little while again... a gap mostly to do with house-moving and a pretty harsh art block kinda thing. Anyway, hope an adorable crab-man goes some ways towards an apology. How can you stay mad at those eyes!!!?

About This Blog

Dungeons & Drawings was started in the summer of 2010 by Blanca Martinez and Joe Sparrow as an illustrative project to re-imagine the many fantastical creatures that feature in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game series.

For us, one of the most fun elements of D&D growing up was simply perusing the various "Monster Manuals", which catalogue hundreds of varied beasts for use in your campaigns. These books are illustrated by a variety of amazingly talented fantasy artists who continue the proud tradition of painters like Frank Frazzetta.

What this blog seeks to do is to take the ideas behind these monsters and redesign them with a more simplified, illustrative goal in mind - trying to be adventurous as possible with colour, style and composition whilst pushing the concept of the creature as far as it will go.

Both Blanca and Joe are professional artists who work as animators in London. They aim to upload an illustration each every Sunday and have run numerous "guest weeks" involving contributions from such famous and talented folk as Matt Layzell and Katie Tiedrich.

Feel free to drop us a line at either of our emails with any questions or comments: